C.J. Cole – Boys Basketball Player of the Year
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
McGuffy’s C.J. Cole had 16 finished his junior season with 16 double-doubles in 23 games.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Washington’s Zahmere Robinson fights for the rebound with McGuffey’s CJ Cole in a section championship at Washington High on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019.
Repetition.
It’s a word basketball players and coaches believe in.
But repetition for McGuffey High School boys basketball player C.J. Cole starts well before layup lines or free throws.
Repetition begins for Cole every day when he chooses not to hit the ever-so-tempting snooze button at 5:30 a.m. during the basketball season.
On the nightstand under where the alarm sounds lies a piece of paper. Cole, a junior, began to write on the paper before his freshman season. On the paper are his goals, both individual and team-oriented achievements. Cole wants to be able to cross off each goal.
“I looked at those goals every morning before I woke up,” Cole said. “It kept them in my mind every single day.”
Included among Cole’s goals this year was making the playoffs, a section championship and averaging 20 points per game. Two of the three were accomplished. Another achievement on his list that he can now cross off is the Observer-Reporter Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
Transitioning from sixth man as a freshman to spot-up shooter as a sophomore, Cole transformed his game to be the most complete player in the area. This season, Cole averaged 23.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and recorded a double-double in 16 of the Highlanders’ 23 games, leading them to the fourth playoff appearance in school history.
He becomes the first Boys Basketball Player of the Year from McGuffey. The Highlanders’ Sammie Weiss received the honor for girls basketball in three consecutive seasons (2013, 2014 and 2015).
“It seems like we are a part of what seems to be like a new piece of history every season,” Cole said. “Everybody thinks of McGuffey as a wrestling school. We are looked at like underdogs. We come into gyms, might not look the part, but come out and play solid basketball. I remember in ninth grade when Coach (Mike) Fatigante asked, ‘How are we going to get more people in the gym?’ We have nearly filled that place on Tuesday night non-section games.”
Cole’s dedication to become better was part of a challenge issued by Fatigante when the two met after last season. Fatigante wanted Cole to become a more complete player rather than the just the good shooter he was as a sophomore.
So Cole woke up to his 5:30 a.m. alarm every morning to arrive an hour early for school to either lift weights or shoot. His repetition attracted teammates well before the opening bell to start school.
“He has developed into one heck of a player,” Fatigante said. “When your best player is the hardest worker, that makes for a great leader. Not many 14-year-old kids are mature enough to make a list prior to being a freshman of what they want to achieve.”
Cole’s best game of the season was in a 70-57 overtime victory against Frazier in December. He scored a career high and the school record with 47 points. He also had 16 rebounds.
Cole did some of his best work when teams were trying to play junk defenses, either a box-and-one or diamond-and-one, trying to force other Highlanders to score.
“He never let it phase him,” Fatigante said. “There were games when he only had a few points after the first quarter or half and finishes with 20-some points and 20 or so rebounds.”
“I want to be as mentally tough as I am physically tough,” Cole said. “There is nothing you can do if you miss the first five shots. Hopefully, the next five go in. There are highs and lows to every basketball game. Those junk defenses were a sign of respect to me but a disrespect to my teammates. We had other guys step up and were better because of it. The only points I care about are the ones on the scoreboard.”
In Cole’s 16 double-double performances, he finished with fewer than 20 points only two times. He scored at least 40 points twice.
It was almost as simple as lather, rinse, and most importantly, repeat.